through the agency of the
_parti pretre_, or Jesuit party in France, with whose machinations against
Louis Philippe's government he had become accidentally acquainted. The
Jesuits, finding him opposed to their plans, determined to remove him from
the scene of action. In consequence of this determination, it so happened
that the captain of the vessel in which he went out, set sail one fine
morning, leaving our friend on shore to the society and care of the native
negro population. His black acquaintances for some time treated him with
marked civility; but as the return of the ship became more and more
problematical, familiarity began to breed its usual progeny, and the
unhappy German found himself in a most painful position. Hitherto he had
not been treated with actual disrespect; but when King Bocca-Bocca one day
cut him in the most unequivocal manner, he found himself so utterly
neglected, that the sensation of being a nobody--a nobody, too, among
niggers!--for the moment completely overcame him. A feeble ray of hope was
excited shortly afterward in his despondent heart by a hint gathered from
the signs made by the negro in whose hut he lived, that a project was
entertained in high quarters of giving him a coat of lamp-black, and
selling him as a slave; but this idea was abandoned by its originators,
possibly for want of opportunity to carry it out. Now our adventurer had
observed that so long as he had a charge of gunpowder left to give away,
the black men had almost worshiped him as an incarnation of the
Mumbo-Jumbo adored by their fathers. Reflecting on this, it occurred to
him that if, by any possibility, he could contrive to manufacture a fresh
supply of the valued commodity, his fortunes would be comparatively
secure.

No sooner had this idea arisen in his brain, than, with prodigious
perseverance, he proceeded to work toward its realization. The worst of it
was, that he knew the native names neither of charcoal, sulphur, nor
nitre. No matter; his stern volition was proof against all difficulties.
Having once conveyed his design to the negroes, he found them eager to
assist him, though, as difficulty after difficulty arose, it required all
the confidence of courage and hopeful energy to control their savage
impatience. The first batch was a failure, and it was only by pretending
that it was yet unfinished he was enabled to try a second, in which he
triumphed over all obstacles. When the negroes had really loaded